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[img]http://i.imgur.com/qbbkePe.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/xMkwt8W.png[/img]
 
[color=181313][b]Location:[/b][/color] Home → CR’s front yard
[color=181313][b]Interacting with:[/b][/color] [color=77aeba][b]Charlotte[/b][/color], [color=deepskyblue][b]Oli[/b][/color] [sup][@smarty0114][/sup], [color=08c7d1][b]CR[/b][/color] and [color=228b22][b]Davy[/b][/color] [sup][@Universorum][/sup]
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[indent]Whether or not you are aware of it, there are people in this world that exist solely to challenge your way of thinking. Right in the moment that you think everything is bleak, that’s when they will show up. You grow up thinking that everybody is out for themselves, that it is simply human nature to be selfish. It’s evolutionary, survival of the fittest, kill or be killed. And love? Love is nothing more than a real life fairytale. We made it up. We made it up, because the hope of [i]love[/i] keeps us warm at night, even when we feel cold and abandoned.
 
And then you meet them.
 
That challenging person. The one who makes you believe - no - the one who [i]proves[/i] that good people exist in this world. There are caring, smiley, wonderful people - people that will give you their last pencil, even if that means that they have to take a test in crayon. For Jareth, that person is his best friend, Remy.
 
Without Remy, Jar might not be in Westworth today. He had never been in a placement for longer than a year before, but something changed that fateful day, in the middle of seventh grade. One person’s kindness opened Jareth’s eyes to all of the good things in life, things worth living for. Small town shenanigans. Lifelong friendships. A place to call home. [i]Finally[/i].
 
One week ago… everything changed, again. Jareth’s best friend in the whole wide world, admitted that he liked him. Like, [i]liked him[/i], liked him. And since then, it’s all Jareth has been able to think about. Nothing has ever shaken Jar, to his core, quite like this revelation has. 
 
If Jar was being truthful with himself, he would say he is an absolute idiot for not seeing it sooner. An idiot… or in denial? Because, admitting that he saw it sooner would be admitting that he was looking for it, and looking for it would be admitting that he wanted it to be true, and wanting it to be true would mean that he was, at least, a little bit... gay. 
 
[i]Not that there was anything wrong with being gay![/i]
 
But [i]is[/i] Jareth gay? Well, bi would be more accurate… because he and Desi did stuff. They were young, and it was awkward, and they didn’t want to do it again, but that’s not because Jareth didn’t find girls attractive. He did, and he found guys attractive too. CR was, and Remy was too, Jar especially liked the way Remy dressed (probably because of the emo influence on his style). But would he [i]fuck[/i] a guy? This was a question best tested by science!
 
So, there Jareth sat, home alone on his bed with his computer in his lap. Experienced musician, practicing scientist. He was going to test his sexuality in the only way a single, hormonal teenage boy could... porn. Jar would watch gay men do their thing, and if it turned him on [i]- which it would -[/i] he would… do something about it. He would stop avoiding the subject with Remy, and confront the situation. No more excuses, no more fear, no more denial. [i]▶ Play video.[/i] The trackpad clicked with a note of finality.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“Jarethhh!”[/b][/color]
 
At the sound of his foster mother’s voice, Jareth clapped the laptop shut and tossed it aside so quickly that you would have thought it had just burst into flames. Fire, there was not. Awkward boner, there was. Jar’s eyes darted around the room while his heart beat so fast and hard that his ribs were practically rattling. The skinny, panicked boy took a steadying breath, trying to reign in the flare up of anxiety.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“Jar? Can you come help me with the groceries?”[/b][/color] Charlotte called up the stairs again.
 
Groceries. Right, that was fine, totally normal! There was no reason to be weird. This wasn’t weird. He didn’t [i]actually[/i] get caught… Jareth shook his head and left his room, closing the painted black [url=http://i.imgur.com/hsCXM5d.png]door[/url] behind him.
 
[b][color=181313]“Coming!”[/color][/b] Jar responded before descending the steps to the first floor. At the entryway stood a very tired, but still beautiful, overnight shift [url=http://i.imgur.com/Qvtu2Uf.jpg]nurse[/url], with two armfuls of groceries.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“There’s more in the trunk.”[/b][/color] Charlotte said when Jareth went to take them from her. [color=77aeba][b]“Did you have your headphones on too loud again? I called for you.”[/b][/color]
 
[b][color=181313]“Oh, yeah. Sorry.”[/color][/b] Jar easily lied over his shoulder on the way out to the light blue prius.Yeah, a [i]prius[/i], only the manliest of cars for Jareth to have learned how to drive in. He hefted the bags of canned goods out of the trunk and closed it by standing on his tiptoes and using his elbow to force it down with a [i]thunk[/i].
 
Brian was on duty for the day and wouldn’t be home until well after the game tonight. Now would be an ideal time to talk to Charlotte about… things. Jareth didn’t have that many people that he felt comfortable telling anything to. There was Wendy, his therapist, but his next session wasn’t until Wednesday. There was Remy, but Remy was a big part of the thing that he needed to talk about, so that was out. Char was safe, she had to be. Deep breath, here goes nothing…
 
[b][color=181313]“So, mom, I－”[/color][/b]
 
[color=77aeba][b]“Jareth.Michael.Wells. What did you do?”[/b][/color] she accused.
 
Jareth balked with wide eyes. [b][color=181313]“What?! Nothing! I－”[/color][/b] Did she have superpowers or something? How on earth could she have known? Sonar? Was the laptop volume just too high? He should have [i]actually[/i] been wearing headphones, fuck!
 
The brunette smiled and her gaze softened. Her dark brown eyes almost looked teary. Jareth passively thought that she must have had a long night at the hospital. He should just help her put away groceries and forget about it, so she could get some sleep. And that’s what he tried to do, pawing through the bags, and taking the jar of pickles out to bring to the fridge.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“It’s just… I don’t think you’ve ever called me mom before.”[/b][/color]
 
There was a pregnant moment of silence. Jareth’s grip tightened on the jar and he froze in place. She wasn’t wrong, he hadn’t. Not that he could recall, at least.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“I assumed something must be wrong… is everything okay?”[/b][/color] Nurturing, observant, empathetic. These are the traits that make Char so good at what she does - both as a nurse, and as a mother.
 
Jar focused on his chipped black nail polish. Concentrating on slowly tapping his thumb on the pickle lid made it easier to talk. [b][color=181313]“Yeah. Maybe. I just need to talk about it, I think.”[/color][/b]
 
Charlotte set down a can of peas and turned her attention fully to her foster son now. [color=77aeba][b]“Go ahead, I’m listening.”[/b][/color] she softly encouraged.
 
[b][color=181313]“Last week I talked to someone. Well, they talked to me. And I didn’t really react the best to it, because it scares the shit out of me. I don’t want to mess up the friendship, because what if we break up? That doesn’t always end as good as Desi and I did... But, I’m going to the dance with them tomorrow, and I think I want it to be more than just a [i]friend[/i] date.”[/color][/b] Jareth blurted, getting it out there as quickly as ripping off a band-aid. He didn’t mention names, or genders, but Charlotte wasn’t a dull woman.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“The heart wants what it wants. Remember what Wendy said? … Try not to stand in the way of your own happiness.”[/b][/color] Charlotte said and put her hand on topping of Jareth’s fidgeting thumb. The boy had a million and one nervous ticks, stop one and another one would start. Jar pulled his lip rings into his mouth and bit his lip, causing that awful metal scraping on teeth noise. Char winced at the sound and patted his hand comfortingly. [color=77aeba][b]“Does Ray know?”[/b][/color]
 
[b][color=181313]“Shit.”[/color][/b] Jareth’s eyes bugged. He’d said too much, this was bad. Remy might actually kill him. [b][color=181313]“No! You can’t!”[/color][/b] he pleaded. [i]Fuck![/i]
 
[color=77aeba][b]“I won’t, of course, I won’t. I was just curious… Ray’s kind of...”[/b][/color]
 
[b][color=181313]“Yeah…”[/color][/b] Jareth agreed. [b][color=181313]“Thanks for listening. And not saying anything. To anyone. Especially Ray - or Brian!”[/color][/b] Jareth’s phone buzzed in his back pocket.
 
[color=77aeba][b]“What? No ‘dad’ for him? He’s not that－”[/b][/color] It became clear to the woman that she had lost the teenage boy to his technology. Heartfelt chats with Jareth were always short lived, he struggled with expressing his emotions vocally, unless it was through music. What Jareth was capable of with an instrument or a pen in his hands, was either mind blowing or heartbreaking - oftentimes both. Feeling like she had made good motherly progress in their relationship, Charlotte went back to putting away the groceries. This conversation could, [i]and would,[/i] continue another day.
 
The phone notification was for the class facebook group message. CR was wrangling up the homies for a boarding trip. That sounded perfect. What better way to clear the mind than to spend the day freezing your ass off and trying to keep up with your much higher-skilled friends? 
 
[b][color=181313]Dank. 
I’m in.
I think left my board at your place. 
Be there in ten.[/color][/b] 
 
Jareth sent a series of responses to the chat and then put his phone back in his pocket. [b][color=181313]“I’m gonna head over to CR’s place, we’re going to the mountains.”[/color][/b]
 
[color=77aeba][b]“Okay, call me if anyone breaks anything. I’m cheaper than an ambulance, and equally or more competent than EMS.”[/b][/color] Char said with a smirk over her shoulder.
 
[b][color=181313]“Definitely. Thanks… again.”[/color][/b] Jareth replied before running up the steps and throwing on some extra clothing. There was no way he was braving the snow with less than three layers on, he’d end up an emo popsicle in seconds. 
 
Once thoroughly dressed, Jar strolled through the front door and walked the few blocks to CR’s homestead. If there was one good thing about living in such a small town, it was that practically everyone’s houses - and most of the recreational activities - were all walking distance from each other. He arrived in less than the ten minutes that he predicted, to find a bunch of people hanging out in the yard, which didn’t surprise him all that much. 
 
[b][color=181313]“Hey.”[/color][/b][/indent]